News

U.S. Navy Captain (Retired) David Williams Haas was sentenced today to 30 months in prison by a federal district judge in San Diego on charges that he received more than $90,000 in bribes from foreign defense contractor Leonard Francis, who plied him with luxurious hotel stays, travel, and prostitutes.  Haas was also ordered to pay a criminal fine of $30,000 and restitution in the amount of $90,968.82.

A local man who engaged in sex trafficking of women in California, Nevada, Massachusetts and Virginia from November 2019 through January 2021 pleaded guilty in federal court today to sex trafficking charges.

Chad Lee Engel was sentenced in federal court today to 138 months in prison for blowing up ATM machines to steal the money contained inside. 

Willian Estuardo Lemus-Lara, aka “Humilde,” a high-level cartel boss from Guatemala, was sentenced in federal court today to 210 months in federal prison.

Micheline Pollock, a citizen of Canada and resident of the United Kingdom, was sentenced in federal court today to time served, which amounts to approximately a 30-month term of imprisonment, for her role in a conspiracy to defraud the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the U.S. Navy Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) in connection with military and humanitarian construction projects across Africa.  Chief U.S. District Judge Dana M. Sabraw also ordered Pollock to pay more than $7 million in restitution.

Kaylar Junior Tawan Beltranlap, a 21-year-old San Diego resident, was sentenced in federal court today to 156 months in prison for distributing counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl that resulted in the death of 15-year-old Coronado High School sophomore Clark Jackson Salveron on May 12, 2021.

A street gang member who led and organized an armed robbery was sentenced in federal court today to 96 months in prison after pleading guilty in April to one count of Conspiracy to Interfere with Commerce by Robbery.

Alexander Michael Randise of Ocean Beach was sentenced today in federal court to 188 months in prison for distribution of fentanyl that resulted in the fatal overdose of 30-year-old Tyber Joseph Lustig.

A federal judge has ordered Glenn Arcaro - one of the leaders of a massive cryptocurrency investment scheme that defrauded investors worldwide - to pay $17,646,801 dollars in restitution to approximately 800 victims from over 40 countries.

A Los Angeles resident was sentenced today to 41 months in prison for his role building specialized devices to steal the financial information of unwitting victims at gas pumps throughout Southern California. 

Terese L. White, a flight attendant residing in Dallas, Texas, has pleaded guilty in federal court to a drug-trafficking charge, admitting that she used her privileges as a flight attendant to bypass the more robust security screening process at San Diego International Airport in order to smuggle fentanyl which was taped to her abdomen.

Dr. David J. Smith, a pain management physician, and his office manager, Julia Ann Oertle, are charged in a federal grand-jury indictment with perpetuating a long-running scheme to commit healthcare fraud and to manufacture and distribute adulterated fentanyl.